Light

 Light

October 26, 2024

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV) 

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowshipwith him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Light is a fascinating topic. As a physicist, I studied way too much about photons, energy levels, frequencies, particle/ wave duality and other aspects of wave theory and quantum mechanics. It’s another whole area of study about nuclear physics and the fusion reactor we call the sun that provides all of our sunlight and moonlight. Then there is biology where we study how this sunlight is converted to living tissue through photosynthesis.  Truly, we could not live without light. Indeed, Genesis tells us that our whole universe was created in a flash of light, “And God said, let there be light…”. Also, we understand that physically, darkness has no substance. Light is the presence of photons, but darkness is simply the lack of light. There is no darkness particle.

Philosophically, we understand light to be understanding. To be enlightened… Let us shed some light on the subject… And the darkness, the absence of light, is used to describe ignorance  or lack of understanding. He’s so dim witted…. Darkness is also used to speak of evil. It was a dark movie…  Light and darkness are the Yang and yang used to discuss good and evil. This derives from the biblical understanding of God as an agent of light and Satan as an agent of darkness.

That leads us to 1 John where we learn that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” The lesson here is that we are to walk in the light, which is to walk in God, that is, to walk in the ways of God. Walking in the light also leads to fellowship with one another. It is darkness, hidden things, that poison a relationship and break fellowship. We were dealing with such things in the Cleansing Stream retreat last week. People get hurt and are traumatized by various injuries in personal relationships. The devil’s answer is to hide it in the darkness. Let sleeping dogs lie, and all that. God’s answer is to bring these traumas into the light where they can be healed. Verse 9 instructs us that this process starts with confession of sins which leads to forgiveness . Without forgiveness, there can be no healing.  As long as a personal hurt is buried in the darkness, it is just going to fester and the hurt will grow. If the problem is ignored long enough it results in a root of bitterness which can cause all sorts of problems. (Hb 15:12)

Just as sunlight is source of all physical life, spiritual light is the source of all life in the kingdom of God. In previous discussions, we were talking about pride, and it is pride that tries to keep or sins buried in the darkness. As we strive to walk in the light, the Lord will help us to confess our sins and forgive us. Then as we forgive one another, we can restore relationships with other people. Done properly, this leads to a life of faith, hope and love. Walking in the light. So let us thrive to allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding and resist our pride to allow the cleansing light of God into our lives. Healing and true fellowship will result. 

Lord, shine your light into our souls so that we may be healed and can live as the light to the world.